Brian revealed that when his girl Amy was born in 1997 one of them cut the tension by exclaiming: “It’s a puppet!”
The EastEnders star, 61, said: “When Amy was born it was like a war zone. I thought I’d just be up at the feeding end but I was really involved.
“When Amy came out it was like this blue blob. It was really scary.
“I was worried and the nurse turned around after weighing her and went, ‘It’s a puppet’. I swear on my mother’s life and my life she said it!”
In a career spanning more than 40 years, one of Brian’s best-known skits was as crude kids’ presenter Nick Frisbee – whose “squirrel” sidekick, Larry the Loafer, came in for very harsh treatment.
Often hitting him with a club, his actions sparked pity from the audience, prompting Nick to shout back at them: “It’s a puppet!”
ITV ’s Brian Conley Show, which ran from 1992 to 1995 and returned in 2000 for two years, regularly got between 12 and 15 million viewers.
The dad of two, who joined BBC soap EastEnders last year as Thomas Cotton, has appeared in panto more than 30 times alongside a raft of stars including Bonnie Langford and Gloria Hunniford.
Opening up about family life on Rob Beckett’s podcast Parenting Hell, panto favourite Brian hints that both his daughters have inherited their dad’s funny side.
Recalling a time when Amy, now 25, blew his cover as he tried to go incognito, he said: “When Amy was six we went to a pizza restaurant and I had a baseball cap on and glasses – and she stood up and went, ‘Everybody, this is Brian Conley’.”
Younger daughter Lucy, 20, is following closely in his footsteps… the pair are set to be in separate pantos 20 miles apart.
Brian, starring in Cinderella in December, said: “Lucy wants to be a comedian and is a great singer. She’s doing a pantomime in Richmond, I’ll be in panto in Woking. I’m not going to see her as I’m working – my wife will have to decide which one she goes to.”
Brian spoke of his pride at having been wed to wife Anne-Marie for more than 25 years. He said: “That’s not bad in showbiz.
“I’m a family bod and it’s all about getting us together at weekends. That’s been very important in my life. My wife is so good with the children. I love her to bits.”
